Marinette asks Chat Noir for boy advice
by Love-above-all-else
Summary: Ever since the Jagged Stone-in-her-house incident on live TV and the broadcasting of her phtots of Adrien to the whole city, things were getting pretty undeniable. Little did she know (and will she ever know?) that the very person she seeks advice from is someone who would kill to hear the same things said about them...
1. Chapter 1

Marinette was struggling to clear her head. For the past week, Adrien had been all she'd been able to think about and honestly, she had had enough. Especially after _that_ incident at the lockers (I mean, had he really been waiting for her inside of one of those lockers the whole time for _her_?! There was no other way he could have creeped up on her like that so suddenly without making a noise.

Until now, she had been perfectly happy to admire Adrien from a safe distance, somewhere where she wouldn't be judged and feel her face grow increasingly red as her palms collected sweat. It had been fine – no confrontations, no interactions… Why did she ever allow her house to be filmed on live television, with Jagged Stone as their presenter, of all people? _Of course_ her photos of Adrien were bound to be found and broadcast to the whole of Paris, what with them being plastered over every inch of her bedroom walls.

 _"I'm interested in fashion"_ she muttered sarcastically under her breath as she trudged home. "What was I thinking? Adrien's not stupid, he probably saw right through my lame excuse

He probably still thinks I'm an obsessive crazy fan like all his other stupid admirers over the city."

The crazy ones that screamed his name unceremoniously behind gaggles of crowds, giggling like idiots outside his manor trying to catch a glimpse of the _dreamy_ Adrien Agreste… drooling over issues of his newest photoshoots – (okay, maybe she was kind of a fan). Nevertheless, she couldn't have Adrien think anything about her that seemed weird or off-putting, and having his face plastered all around her room was not the way to go about that. She did really like him.

"You have a plan though, right?" Tikki had asked after the whole fiasco.

She had to keep it cool, **calm** and collected. Like Adrien. Let him know that she didn't care! "You're a cool, collected girl who isn't fazed by something as minor as a glimpse of her bedroom on a TV show. You'll rock it, and if he doesn't like it, he can shove off!"

She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and stopped. Who was she kidding? As much as she wanted to try, Marinette didn't have the ability to just not care. Believe me, she wanted to so badly – often she thought about and was envious of the kind of people who just didn't care what others thought – but something in her never allowed her to truly let go. In the end, she'd always be coming out red faced and apologising profusely to everyone and nobody at the same time.

She, Marinette, could never be seen as the brave, bad-ass girl that she could be when she was Ladybug, in real life. All she was at school was the clumsy, sweet and adorable girl that blushed at the mere mention of Adrien's name. How would she ever gather the courage to talk to him normally, let alone ask him out on a date?

Tikki chimed in. "You know, Marinette, you don't need to be like Ladybug to get Adrien to like you – he likes you anyway just the way you are already! Besides –"

"Nooo, don't say that Tikki-"

"-you need Adrien to like the real you, and you're a bad-ass anyway in the passion that you have for your art. No one needs to be brave when they have brains like yours and your sense of loyalty…"

Marinette sighed. Tikki was truly the only companion she could have ever asked for. And she was right. Turning to look down onto the street below over the rail, she wondered what Chat Noir would think of all this. Would he laugh at the whole awkwardness of the Jagged Stone episode and roll his eyes, making some stupid cat pun, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"that's unfor-tuna, blah blah

Of course, she could never tell him the whole truth because he would figure out her real identity, but…

She repeated her thought aloud to Tikki, but she nodded vaguely and all of a sudden was quiet for a little while.  
After a second on silence however, the kwami spoke up. "Why don't you ask Chat Noir what he thinks?"

Marinette's eyes widened.

Chat Noir?!


	2. Chapter 2

{CHAT}

"So, Chat Noir." Ladybug took a deep breath. "I have something I want to ask you."

They were sitting on the rooftops of a terrace of houses overlooking the town square, a faint breeze tickling their faces.

Chat Noir noticed something different in ladybug in this very moment; perhaps it was a slight nervous flicker in the eyes, or the unusually shallow intake of breath just then – maybe just something implicit in her expression- nevertheless it was hard to pin down, it was so subtle. But then again, she was _ladybug_ , and fear never _ever_ got the best of Ladybug. It was possible he'd just imagined it.

They'd just finished saving Paris from another one of Papillon's Akumas _(Would he ever give up?!)_ , this time a hyperactive seven-year-old who transformed into a giant woodlouse and rolled about the city in a ball, declaring that everyone should be having more fun. Sometimes Chat seriously questioned whether his duty in keeping the city safe was just part of some cruel joke. This time they had both a little extra time to hang out, as neither of them had needed to use their special powers and the problem solved relatively quickly.

It was nice on days like this, when the two of them could just sit together and watch the city from a place high above, not knowing too much about their everyday lives yet finding a comfortable compromise. As a result, they would end up casually voicing random thoughts to one another and somehow got to know each other even better this way.

It was hard sometimes, though, having to carefully filter through every single detail of their lives so that the other wouldn't accidentally figure out their true identities.

 _But today_ , Chat Noir thought to himself, _Today has something different about it, our whole dynamic, Ladybug's presence…_

 _Is it about us?_

The sinking sun's rays framed her face in a warm glow, and Ladybug sighed again. Eyes flitting about the soft sky and back to Chat, she shifted uneasily on the hard tiles as she searched for the right words.

"Umm…so you're a boy and all…"

Chat's heart leaped at these words.

"…and I thought you might be able to help me with a problem that I have-", she paused uncertainly, "-boy related"

All of a sudden, the usual poise and confidence that he possessed vanished, and the heart that always sat so comfortably in Chat's solid chest began to both flutter and pound.

Ladybug went on, "So, basically there's this friend that I've only known for a short while, but I've quickly come to like them as more than a friend-", she cleared her throat uncomfortably as Chat's insides somersaulted, "-and I've been trying to hide this fact from them since the first day we met, because it would never work out. And recently, I think he might have started to notice what's going on and I'm kind of panicking because I really, _really_ like him, and I'm scared of what might happen if I don't say something quickly."

 _Wow._ Chat Noir felt breathless. He couldn't believe that this was really happening. Ladybug, the one he'd always admired, his onetime love; the only one that ever really mattered when it came to Paris, standing there and saying all that he had hoped for only in his dreams. That she felt the same.

He shifted carefully towards her on the tiles until only half a foot remained in the space between their faces. Was he about to mess this all up?

"Okay. This boy, you say", he spoke carefully whilst weighing her reaction. "You really like him?"

In that moment Ladybug did something he'd never seen before; she blushed. Suddenly she seemed to have transformed into a totally different person, her dark, striking eyes now darting behind her bright mask. She sat up straight and looked Chat Noir straight in the eyes.

"Yes."

[LADYBUG]

It was strange; a second ago she'd felt so self-conscious and was so embarrassed that she had been about to abort the whole conversation. But something in Chat's eyes, something reassuring and kind, had stopped her. She had always known that Chat was a good person underneath all that arrogance, but never had she seen this soft kindness on his features. Somewhere subconsciously, it registered how much it suited him and his gentle green eyes.


End file.
